2,000 employees of Erra uncertain about their future

Islamabad: As many 2,000 employees of Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (Erra) are still uncertain about their future as the government is yet to show its future plan after issuance of an official letter in which it was stated that operations of Erra were being closed down, the sources said here on Saturday.

The sources said the administration of the Erra after receiving the letter from the federal government clearly conveyed to the contractual employees that their jobs were now at stake and there was no surety or guarantee whether they would be given any alternative job or shifted to other government departments.

A senior employee who has been working in Erra since its inception said they have been struggling to regularise their jobs and PML-N also made promise in its election campaign to provide security to jobs of the government employees but this decision brought a great shock to all contractual employees of Erra.

It is pertinent to mention here that the federal government in 2011 passed a bill to regularise contractual employees. As soon as the bill was passed, almost 70,000 employees of various organisations including NHA, NDMA, Nadra and Radio Pakistan were made permanent, whereas Erra did not follow suit after which more than 100 employees filed a case in Islamabad High Court against the authority in June 2012.

Talking to this scribe, Erra Chief of Staff Brig Syed Wajid Raza said that when it is clearly mentioned in the letter sent by the Prime Minister House that a special committee would deal with the issue then “we should not doubt that the government would leave the contractual employees of Erra in the lurch.”

When contacted, PML-N spokesman Mushahidullah said he is currently unaware of any letter sent to Erra and when he would find details about it then he would offer his comments on this issue.